Comments:
6
Oooh -- this sounds interesting!
I didn't know what to expect, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. I lived in Yorkshire for quite a few years, and it was like going back in time and imagining what it must have been like. Very well-written as well.
That really is a great testimonial. I only know Yorkshire from visiting, but I loved what I saw, and it's always a hallmark of a great book (both nonfiction and fiction) if it places you right in the area where it is set -- AND the time, too. Not to mention the Bronte pull in this particular instance ... (and the siblings' mother must be pretty much the only family member who has *not* had a biography of her own at this point, except solely for the two early-deceased sisters, perhaps).
Yes, you're right. I love to visit old mansions and have a soft spot for the homes of writers as well, and it's a great way to get a feel for what their lives must have been like. Of course the two sisters feature here (and it seems they took them away to stay with friends when the mother got ill. It must have been very distressing for them all) but it's impossible not to think about them and wonder what might have been. One of the things I appreciated is that the author does not try to impose her own values or modernise Maria. She is a woman of the period.
That, too, is good to know. I passionately *hate* it if people from times past are endowed with modern sensibilities (again, regardless whether in fiction or nonfiction).
Yes. It's one of my pet hates as well.
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